Bittersweet love
by doc boy
Summary: Harry gets badly injured during a dual with Malfoy. Will her recover? Hermione hopes for the best as she stays by his bedside


Bittersweet love

I do not own Harry Potter (wish I did though)

It was an accident waiting to happen. Being the prick that he is, Draco should have known he would go too far one day. It happened during potions class. Malfoy was making fun of Hermione again. When he called her an ugly mudblood, Harry lost his cool and tried to stun Malfoy but the boy dodged it and sent an unfamiliar curse at Harry, which sent blood gushing out of his chest…

"HARRY!" wailed Hermione and knelt down by his side. He was losing blood fast. She tried to press her hands against his chest but nothing helped. After that, things happened rather quickly. Before she knew what happened, Harry was in the hospital wing, his face white as a sheet, as madam Pomfrey struggled to stop the bleeding while constantly giving him blood replenishing potions so he won't bleed to death. But alas, the bleeding was too fast for her to keep up with. Harry was about to breathe his last breath as Hermione looked on with tears in her eyes. Then Madam Pomfrey got lucky and she was able to slow down the bleeding. A while later, the bleeding stopped. She then gave Harry another bottle of blood replenishing potion and poured it down his throat. The two women sighed in relief, as madam Pomfrey turned to clean the blood off his chest. When the thick layer of blood was wiped off, a horrifying sight greeted them. Across Harry's torso and upper stomach were long gashes that made it seem like someone took a few swipes at him with a sword.

"Oh Harry…" Hermione sobbed at her poor friend's condition.

"Is he gonna heal Madam Pomfrey?" she asked in fear.

The nurse had a grim look on her face as she inspected the damage.

"I don't know Granger… these scars are pretty bad… I'm afraid they might be permanent…"

Hermione sobbed and covered her face with her hands. Professor McGonagall placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

 _"Why does Harry always get the rough treatment? He already has a scar to worry about… he doesn't need more…"_ she thought.

That day Hermione skipped lunch. She even skipped dinner despite the fact that she was very hungry and Ron told her they served fudge for desert, which was her favorite. By the time dinner was over, Ron came up to the hospital wing with a few pieces fudge wrapped up in a napkin and walked up to Hermione.

"Hey Hermione…" he said softly.

A drowsy Hermione looked up at him.

"Hey Ron." She smiled at him and he smiled back. He presented to her the small pile of food in his hands.

"Thought you might want some fudge…" he said bashfully. Hermione smiled sweetly at him and brought him into a hug.

"Thanks Ron, that's really sweet…" she said and took the fudge from his hands and put it on Harry's nightstand. The two teenagers looked at him as he slept.

"Any signs of life yet?" asked Ron.

"Aside from him still breathing, no…"

Ron sighed and shook his head sadly.

"Poor bloke… I hope Malfoy gets expelled because of this…"

"You and I both…"

"Even Snape got cheesed off at him…," noted Ron. Hermione looked at him in surprise.

"He did?"

"Yeah, he said something about doing something he was gonna regret. Who knew Snape cared about Harry?"

"I certainly did not."

"Me neither…." said Ron as they continued to observe Harry as he slept.

"Why don't come back to the tower Hermione? You don't want to spend the night at the hospital wing, it'll only make you more depressed. You could use some sleep…," suggested Ron.

She shook her head.

"Not until Harry wakes up."

Ron considered arguing but thought the better of it.

"Okay." He said.

"I'll see you later Hermione…" he said and wrapped his arm around her shoulder in an attempt to console her and left the room.

The hours slipped by like sand through a sieve. Soon it was two in the morning and Hermione fell asleep in her chair. At three, she was woken up by the sound of Harry groaning in pain. She perked up to see him opening his eyes and searching his surroundings. As he was searching for his glasses, tears of joy and relief began to slip down Hermione's cheeks. When he found them and put them on, he saw her looking at him with a teary smile.

"Hermione?" he asked in surprise and concern. She smiled at him and caressed his cheek with her index finger.

"Hermione, why are you crying?" he asked worriedly.

"Oh Harry…" she sobbed and buried her head in his shoulder. A little surprised at first, Harry didn't react. Soon afterwards, he took a grip on himself and wrapped his arms around her as he tried to sooth her.

"I thought you were gonna die…" she said softly

"For a moment there so did I…," he confessed.

"But I'm okay, now Hermione. So please don't cry. I hate to see you cry…"

She sniffed and smiled as she wiped her tears. She separated and looked at him quizzically.

Harry blinked.

"What?"

"Why is it that whenever you're injured you care more about me than yourself at that point?"

Harry blinked twice in confusion.

"Because you're crying Hermione. I think it seems pretty obvious."

"So what if I'm crying? Look at you! You have gashes on her chest for crying out loud! And you're more concerned about my pain than yours. How do you do that? WHY do you do that?"

Harry sighed.

"You wouldn't understand…"

"Try me. I'm bright enough."

Harry sighed.

"Okay here goes…" he said and took a deep breathe.

"Truth is I care about you more than I care about myself. Ever since our fourth year, I realized how much you mean to me. When you almost died last year at the ministry, it only enhanced it. It was during that summer, that I realized how much I cherish every moment I spend with you and how much I cherish you, and I would never want to be apart from you again… what I'm saying his, I love you Hermione, and I would do whatever I can to keep your smile on your face. Even if it means belittling my own pai…." His words were cut off by Hermione's lips on his own. Shocked at first, after a few seconds he returned the kiss and kissed her lightly. Once parted Hermione smiled into his eyes.

"Took you long enough…" she teased.

"Was it worth the wait?" he joked and she chuckled and kissed his cheek lightly.

"You bet Potter…," she said and they both smiled. Harry then looked at the bandages on his chest.

"I don't suppose these wounds are ever gonna go away…."

"Doesn't look like it…" admitted Hermione.

"Well, I always did want a series of scars on my chest…" Harry said matter of factly.

"You did?" Hermione asked very skeptically.

"No…" answered Harry as they both laughed. Hermione smiled at him.

"You still look the same to me Harry…"

He smiled.

"I'm glad. So do you…"

She laughed.

"But I haven't changed."

"That's good." He said sweetly and kissed her briefly on the lips again.

"Never change." He said and they both chuckled again as they sat there holding hands in the dark as they dozed off until daybreak…

The end…

Viola! Another fic hot out of the oven. Get em now while they're in season for -0$ apiece. Just kidding… anyway, reviews are most welcome…

See you guys later…


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